Hardware Acceleration Issue [Nvidia Windows]

Channels DVR Server
#1

I have an issue where I am unable to consistently get the option to use hardware acceleration as part of my DVR.

My Setup:

  • ESXI 6.0 host
  • Windows 8.1 Guest
  • Nvidia GT 710 video card w/ direct I/O passthrough to guest OS (GPU is recognized by guest)

Here are the scenarios:

  1. Fresh install of Channels DVR to system tray: No option to select HW transcoding, SW transcoding is used
  2. Reboot of Windows 8.1 with Channels DVR to system tray: No option to select HW transcoding, SW transcoding is used
  3. After Channels DVR install to systray, select option to run Channels DVR as Windows Service: HW transcoding is available as an option, and selected - used successfully.
  4. Reboot Windows 8.1 Guest with Channels DVR installed as a service, SW transcoding is only option available.

In any of these scenarios, if I uninstall channels DVR, then reinstall to systray and then install as service; or uninstall the service, then reinstall the service the HW transcoding option becomes available only after I am able to install freshly as a windows service.

Any help on how I can get HW transcoding to be available persistently after every reboot?

Thanks…

Can Channels DVR run on macOS 10.12.3 w/o login?
#2

That’s weird. When the hardware option shows up and you select it, does the web player work?

#3

Yes. The web player does work. Just verified it.

HW transcoding was enabled and was able to watch NFL Network via the web player.

Let me know how else I can help. This issue is consistently reproducible with my setup.

#4

Hmm ok. When the DVR starts up, it tries to use the hardware encoder. If it works, the option is enabled. So I guess for some reason it’s not working reliably when the DVR starts. I’ll try to add some debug logging so we can figure out where it’s failing.

#5

Thanks…

#6

@tmm1 - Any updates on getting to the bottom of this issue? It is a bit annoying after every restart having to stop the DVR service, remove the DVR service and then reinstall the service as a way to get HW transcoding available. This should hopefully be easy to debug since it is consistently reproducible on my setup.

Please let me know how I can help. Thanks.

#7

FWIW, I experience a similar issue on Mac OS. However, I simply restart the DVR and that usually corrects the problem. Sometimes, I have to restart it more than once before HW transcoding is detected and selected. I’ve never had to uninstall the DVR to fix the issue.

For me, I rarely restart the Mac Mini that it is running on so it’s only a minor nuisance.

#8

I spent most the day yesterday working on this. There’s a new prerelease build with debugging available.

Please first upgrade, by holding down SHIFT on the keyboard and clicking Check For Updates.

Then run this in PowerShell and copy/paste the new “HWE” entries that appear on the log:

iwr -usebasicparsing -method post http://127.0.01:8089/hls/hwaccel

#9

Thanks! Here’s the results:

1. Output #1 - Running the PowerShell command after a fresh boot and having the DVR run as a Windows Service. This is the scenario where where HWE is not available and Software is the only option shown:

2017/12/21 13:14:37 [SYS] Starting Channels DVR v2017.12.21.0720 (windows-x86_64) in C:\ProgramData\ChannelsDVR\data
2017/12/21 13:14:37 [SYS] Running as a Windows system service.
2017/12/21 13:15:55 [HDR] Found 2 devices
2017/12/21 13:15:57 [SYS] Started HTTP Server
2017/12/21 13:19:29 [DVR] Recording engine started in D:\Channels DVR
2017/12/21 13:19:29 [SYS] Bonjour service running for dvr-wmc.local. [192.168.1.5]
2017/12/21 13:19:29 [SYS] Created database snapshot: backup-20171221.131929
2017/12/21 13:19:39 [IDX] Pruned 0 expired airings from USA-IL68236-X in 63.9908ms.
2017/12/21 13:23:52 [HWE] Trying C:\ProgramData\ChannelsDVR\latest\ffmpeg.exe C:\ProgramData\ChannelsDVR\latest\ffmpeg.exe -hide_banner -nostats -loglevel warning -loglevel verbose -f lavfi -t 0.1 -i color=black:640x480 -c:v h264_mf -profile:v high -level 42 -b:v 400k -maxrate:v 600k -f null -y nul
[Parsed_color_0 @ 0000000000637d00] size:640x480 rate:25/1 duration:-1.000000 sar:1/1
Input #0, lavfi, from ‘color=black:640x480’:
Duration: N/A, start: 0.000000, bitrate: N/A
Stream #0:0: Video: rawvideo, 1 reference frame (I420 / 0x30323449), yuv420p, 640x480 [SAR 1:1 DAR 4:3], 25 tbr, 25 tbn, 25 tbc
Stream mapping:
Stream #0:0 -> #0:0 (rawvideo (native) -> h264 (h264_mf))
Press [q] to stop, [?] for help
[graph 0 input from stream 0:0 @ 0000000001e601c0] w:640 h:480 pixfmt:yuv420p tb:1/25 fr:25/1 sar:1/1 sws_param:flags=2
[auto_scaler_0 @ 0000000001e609e0] w:iw h:ih flags:‘bicubic’ interl:0
[format @ 0000000001e60420] auto-inserting filter ‘auto_scaler_0’ between the filter ‘Parsed_null_0’ and the filter ‘format’
[auto_scaler_0 @ 0000000001e609e0] w:640 h:480 fmt:yuv420p sar:1/1 -> w:640 h:480 fmt:nv12 sar:1/1 flags:0x4
[h264_mf @ 0000000000a59a40] could not find any MFT for the given media type
[h264_mf @ 0000000000a59a40] could not create MFT
Error initializing output stream 0:0 – Error while opening encoder for output stream #0:0 - maybe incorrect parameters such as bit_rate, rate, width or height
Conversion failed!
2017/12/21 13:23:54 [HWE] Failure: exit status 1
2017/12/21 13:23:54 [HWE] Trying C:\ProgramData\ChannelsDVR\latest\ffmpeg.exe C:\ProgramData\ChannelsDVR\latest\ffmpeg.exe -hide_banner -nostats -loglevel warning -loglevel verbose -f lavfi -t 0.1 -i color=black:640x480 -c:v h264_nvenc -profile:v high -level 42 -b:v 400k -maxrate:v 600k -f null -y nul
[Parsed_color_0 @ 00000000003782e0] size:640x480 rate:25/1 duration:-1.000000 sar:1/1
Input #0, lavfi, from ‘color=black:640x480’:
Duration: N/A, start: 0.000000, bitrate: N/A
Stream #0:0: Video: rawvideo, 1 reference frame (I420 / 0x30323449), yuv420p, 640x480 [SAR 1:1 DAR 4:3], 25 tbr, 25 tbn, 25 tbc
Stream mapping:
Stream #0:0 -> #0:0 (rawvideo (native) -> h264 (h264_nvenc))
Press [q] to stop, [?] for help
[graph 0 input from stream 0:0 @ 00000000014131e0] w:640 h:480 pixfmt:yuv420p tb:1/25 fr:25/1 sar:1/1 sws_param:flags=2
[h264_nvenc @ 0000000000a08bc0] Loaded Nvenc version 8.1
[h264_nvenc @ 0000000000a08bc0] Nvenc initialized successfully
[h264_nvenc @ 0000000000a08bc0] 1 CUDA capable devices found
[h264_nvenc @ 0000000000a08bc0] [ GPU #0 - < GeForce GT 710 > has Compute SM 3.5 ]
2017/12/21 13:23:57 [HWE] Killing ffmpeg after 3s timeout…
2017/12/21 13:23:57 [HWE] Failure: exit status 1
2017/12/21 13:23:57 [HWE] Trying C:\ProgramData\ChannelsDVR\latest\ffmpeg.exe C:\ProgramData\ChannelsDVR\latest\ffmpeg.exe -hide_banner -nostats -loglevel warning -loglevel verbose -f lavfi -t 0.1 -i color=black:640x480 -c:v h264_qsv -profile:v high -level 42 -b:v 400k -maxrate:v 600k -f null -y nul
[Parsed_color_0 @ 00000000003182e0] size:640x480 rate:25/1 duration:-1.000000 sar:1/1
Input #0, lavfi, from ‘color=black:640x480’:
Duration: N/A, start: 0.000000, bitrate: N/A
Stream #0:0: Video: rawvideo, 1 reference frame (I420 / 0x30323449), yuv420p, 640x480 [SAR 1:1 DAR 4:3], 25 tbr, 25 tbn, 25 tbc
Stream mapping:
Stream #0:0 -> #0:0 (rawvideo (native) -> h264 (h264_qsv))
Press [q] to stop, [?] for help
[graph 0 input from stream 0:0 @ 00000000013c3ba0] w:640 h:480 pixfmt:yuv420p tb:1/25 fr:25/1 sar:1/1 sws_param:flags=2
[auto_scaler_0 @ 00000000013c3860] w:iw h:ih flags:‘bicubic’ interl:0
[format @ 00000000013c3920] auto-inserting filter ‘auto_scaler_0’ between the filter ‘Parsed_null_0’ and the filter ‘format’
[auto_scaler_0 @ 00000000013c3860] w:640 h:480 fmt:yuv420p sar:1/1 -> w:640 h:480 fmt:nv12 sar:1/1 flags:0x4
[h264_qsv @ 00000000009b7880] Error initializing an internal MFX session: unsupported (-3)
Error initializing output stream 0:0 – Error while opening encoder for output stream #0:0 - maybe incorrect parameters such as bit_rate, rate, width or height
Conversion failed!
2017/12/21 13:23:57 [HWE] Failure: exit status 1
2017/12/21 13:23:57 [HWE] Trying C:\ProgramData\ChannelsDVR\latest\ffmpeg.exe C:\ProgramData\ChannelsDVR\latest\ffmpeg.exe -hide_banner -nostats -loglevel warning -loglevel verbose -f lavfi -t 0.1 -i color=black:640x480 -c:v h264_qsv -profile:v high -level 42 -b:v 400k -maxrate:v 600k -look_ahead 0 -f null -y nul
[Parsed_color_0 @ 00000000003e8380] size:640x480 rate:25/1 duration:-1.000000 sar:1/1
Input #0, lavfi, from ‘color=black:640x480’:
Duration: N/A, start: 0.000000, bitrate: N/A
Stream #0:0: Video: rawvideo, 1 reference frame (I420 / 0x30323449), yuv420p, 640x480 [SAR 1:1 DAR 4:3], 25 tbr, 25 tbn, 25 tbc
Stream mapping:
Stream #0:0 -> #0:0 (rawvideo (native) -> h264 (h264_qsv))
Press [q] to stop, [?] for help
[graph 0 input from stream 0:0 @ 00000000013c3100] w:640 h:480 pixfmt:yuv420p tb:1/25 fr:25/1 sar:1/1 sws_param:flags=2
[auto_scaler_0 @ 00000000013c3ee0] w:iw h:ih flags:‘bicubic’ interl:0
[format @ 00000000013c3380] auto-inserting filter ‘auto_scaler_0’ between the filter ‘Parsed_null_0’ and the filter ‘format’
[auto_scaler_0 @ 00000000013c3ee0] w:640 h:480 fmt:yuv420p sar:1/1 -> w:640 h:480 fmt:nv12 sar:1/1 flags:0x4
[h264_qsv @ 00000000009b8520] Error initializing an internal MFX session: unsupported (-3)
Error initializing output stream 0:0 – Error while opening encoder for output stream #0:0 - maybe incorrect parameters such as bit_rate, rate, width or height
Conversion failed!
2017/12/21 13:23:57 [HWE] Failure: exit status 1
2017/12/21 13:24:51 [HWE] Trying C:\ProgramData\ChannelsDVR\latest\ffmpeg.exe C:\ProgramData\ChannelsDVR\latest\ffmpeg.exe -hide_banner -nostats -loglevel warning -loglevel verbose -f lavfi -t 0.1 -i color=black:640x480 -c:v h264_mf -profile:v high -level 42 -b:v 400k -maxrate:v 600k -f null -y nul
[Parsed_color_0 @ 00000000005682c0] size:640x480 rate:25/1 duration:-1.000000 sar:1/1
Input #0, lavfi, from ‘color=black:640x480’:
Duration: N/A, start: 0.000000, bitrate: N/A
Stream #0:0: Video: rawvideo, 1 reference frame (I420 / 0x30323449), yuv420p, 640x480 [SAR 1:1 DAR 4:3], 25 tbr, 25 tbn, 25 tbc
Stream mapping:
Stream #0:0 -> #0:0 (rawvideo (native) -> h264 (h264_mf))
Press [q] to stop, [?] for help
[graph 0 input from stream 0:0 @ 0000000001e40840] w:640 h:480 pixfmt:yuv420p tb:1/25 fr:25/1 sar:1/1 sws_param:flags=2
[auto_scaler_0 @ 0000000001e409e0] w:iw h:ih flags:‘bicubic’ interl:0
[format @ 0000000001e40900] auto-inserting filter ‘auto_scaler_0’ between the filter ‘Parsed_null_0’ and the filter ‘format’
[auto_scaler_0 @ 0000000001e409e0] w:640 h:480 fmt:yuv420p sar:1/1 -> w:640 h:480 fmt:nv12 sar:1/1 flags:0x4
[h264_mf @ 0000000000a36ee0] could not find any MFT for the given media type
[h264_mf @ 0000000000a36ee0] could not create MFT
Error initializing output stream 0:0 – Error while opening encoder for output stream #0:0 - maybe incorrect parameters such as bit_rate, rate, width or height
Conversion failed!
2017/12/21 13:24:51 [HWE] Failure: exit status 1
2017/12/21 13:24:51 [HWE] Trying C:\ProgramData\ChannelsDVR\latest\ffmpeg.exe C:\ProgramData\ChannelsDVR\latest\ffmpeg.exe -hide_banner -nostats -loglevel warning -loglevel verbose -f lavfi -t 0.1 -i color=black:640x480 -c:v h264_nvenc -profile:v high -level 42 -b:v 400k -maxrate:v 600k -f null -y nul
[Parsed_color_0 @ 00000000004d85c0] size:640x480 rate:25/1 duration:-1.000000 sar:1/1
Input #0, lavfi, from ‘color=black:640x480’:
Duration: N/A, start: 0.000000, bitrate: N/A
Stream #0:0: Video: rawvideo, 1 reference frame (I420 / 0x30323449), yuv420p, 640x480 [SAR 1:1 DAR 4:3], 25 tbr, 25 tbn, 25 tbc
Stream mapping:
Stream #0:0 -> #0:0 (rawvideo (native) -> h264 (h264_nvenc))
Press [q] to stop, [?] for help
[graph 0 input from stream 0:0 @ 00000000014a3520] w:640 h:480 pixfmt:yuv420p tb:1/25 fr:25/1 sar:1/1 sws_param:flags=2
[h264_nvenc @ 0000000000a98220] Loaded Nvenc version 8.1
[h264_nvenc @ 0000000000a98220] Nvenc initialized successfully
[h264_nvenc @ 0000000000a98220] 1 CUDA capable devices found
[h264_nvenc @ 0000000000a98220] [ GPU #0 - < GeForce GT 710 > has Compute SM 3.5 ]
[h264_nvenc @ 0000000000a98220] supports NVENC
Output #0, null, to ‘nul’:
Metadata:
encoder : Lavf57.71.100
Stream #0:0: Video: h264 (h264_nvenc) (High), 1 reference frame, yuv420p, 640x480 [SAR 1:1 DAR 4:3], q=-1–1, 400 kb/s, 25 fps, 25 tbn, 25 tbc
Metadata:
encoder : Lavc57.89.100 h264_nvenc
Side data:
cpb: bitrate max/min/avg: 600000/0/400000 buffer size: 800000 vbv_delay: -1
No more output streams to write to, finishing.
frame= 3 fps=1.8 q=25.0 Lsize=N/A time=00:00:00.12 bitrate=N/A speed=0.0702x
video:0kB audio:0kB subtitle:0kB other streams:0kB global headers:0kB muxing overhead: unknown
Input file #0 (color=black:640x480):
Input stream #0:0 (video): 4 packets read (1843200 bytes); 4 frames decoded;
Total: 4 packets (1843200 bytes) demuxed
Output file #0 (nul):
Output stream #0:0 (video): 3 frames encoded; 3 packets muxed (171 bytes);
Total: 3 packets (171 bytes) muxed
[h264_nvenc @ 0000000000a98220] Nvenc unloaded

2. Output #2 - Running the PowerShell command after I have stopped the DVR service, removed the DVR service, and installed the DVR as a background service. This is the scenario where where HWE available:

2017/12/21 13:37:09 [SYS] Starting Channels DVR v2017.12.21.0720 (windows-x86_64) in C:\ProgramData\ChannelsDVR\data
2017/12/21 13:37:09 [SYS] Running as a Windows system service.
2017/12/21 13:37:11 [HDR] Found 2 devices
2017/12/21 13:37:12 [SYS] Started HTTP Server
2017/12/21 13:37:17 [DVR] Recording engine started in D:\Channels DVR
2017/12/21 13:37:17 [SYS] Bonjour service running for dvr-wmc.local. [192.168.1.5]
2017/12/21 13:37:17 [SYS] Created database snapshot: backup-20171221.133717
2017/12/21 13:37:28 [IDX] Pruned 150 expired airings from USA-IL68236-X in 744.0108ms.
2017/12/21 13:39:21 [HWE] Trying C:\ProgramData\ChannelsDVR\latest\ffmpeg.exe C:\ProgramData\ChannelsDVR\latest\ffmpeg.exe -hide_banner -nostats -loglevel warning -loglevel verbose -f lavfi -t 0.1 -i color=black:640x480 -c:v h264_mf -profile:v high -level 42 -b:v 400k -maxrate:v 600k -f null -y nul
[Parsed_color_0 @ 00000000005685a0] size:640x480 rate:25/1 duration:-1.000000 sar:1/1
Input #0, lavfi, from ‘color=black:640x480’:
Duration: N/A, start: 0.000000, bitrate: N/A
Stream #0:0: Video: rawvideo, 1 reference frame (I420 / 0x30323449), yuv420p, 640x480 [SAR 1:1 DAR 4:3], 25 tbr, 25 tbn, 25 tbc
Stream mapping:
Stream #0:0 -> #0:0 (rawvideo (native) -> h264 (h264_mf))
Press [q] to stop, [?] for help
[graph 0 input from stream 0:0 @ 000000000098e780] w:640 h:480 pixfmt:yuv420p tb:1/25 fr:25/1 sar:1/1 sws_param:flags=2
[auto_scaler_0 @ 000000000098ee00] w:iw h:ih flags:‘bicubic’ interl:0
[format @ 000000000098e520] auto-inserting filter ‘auto_scaler_0’ between the filter ‘Parsed_null_0’ and the filter ‘format’
[auto_scaler_0 @ 000000000098ee00] w:640 h:480 fmt:yuv420p sar:1/1 -> w:640 h:480 fmt:nv12 sar:1/1 flags:0x4
[h264_mf @ 0000000000989a40] could not find any MFT for the given media type
[h264_mf @ 0000000000989a40] could not create MFT
Error initializing output stream 0:0 – Error while opening encoder for output stream #0:0 - maybe incorrect parameters such as bit_rate, rate, width or height
Conversion failed!
2017/12/21 13:39:21 [HWE] Failure: exit status 1
2017/12/21 13:39:21 [HWE] Trying C:\ProgramData\ChannelsDVR\latest\ffmpeg.exe C:\ProgramData\ChannelsDVR\latest\ffmpeg.exe -hide_banner -nostats -loglevel warning -loglevel verbose -f lavfi -t 0.1 -i color=black:640x480 -c:v h264_nvenc -profile:v high -level 42 -b:v 400k -maxrate:v 600k -f null -y nul
[Parsed_color_0 @ 00000000006985c0] size:640x480 rate:25/1 duration:-1.000000 sar:1/1
Input #0, lavfi, from ‘color=black:640x480’:
Duration: N/A, start: 0.000000, bitrate: N/A
Stream #0:0: Video: rawvideo, 1 reference frame (I420 / 0x30323449), yuv420p, 640x480 [SAR 1:1 DAR 4:3], 25 tbr, 25 tbn, 25 tbc
Stream mapping:
Stream #0:0 -> #0:0 (rawvideo (native) -> h264 (h264_nvenc))
Press [q] to stop, [?] for help
[graph 0 input from stream 0:0 @ 00000000015c3ee0] w:640 h:480 pixfmt:yuv420p tb:1/25 fr:25/1 sar:1/1 sws_param:flags=2
[h264_nvenc @ 0000000000628220] Loaded Nvenc version 8.1
[h264_nvenc @ 0000000000628220] Nvenc initialized successfully
[h264_nvenc @ 0000000000628220] 1 CUDA capable devices found
[h264_nvenc @ 0000000000628220] [ GPU #0 - < GeForce GT 710 > has Compute SM 3.5 ]
[h264_nvenc @ 0000000000628220] supports NVENC
Output #0, null, to ‘nul’:
Metadata:
encoder : Lavf57.71.100
Stream #0:0: Video: h264 (h264_nvenc) (High), 1 reference frame, yuv420p, 640x480 [SAR 1:1 DAR 4:3], q=-1–1, 400 kb/s, 25 fps, 25 tbn, 25 tbc
Metadata:
encoder : Lavc57.89.100 h264_nvenc
Side data:
cpb: bitrate max/min/avg: 600000/0/400000 buffer size: 800000 vbv_delay: -1
No more output streams to write to, finishing.
frame= 3 fps=0.0 q=25.0 Lsize=N/A time=00:00:00.12 bitrate=N/A speed=0.166x
video:0kB audio:0kB subtitle:0kB other streams:0kB global headers:0kB muxing overhead: unknown
Input file #0 (color=black:640x480):
Input stream #0:0 (video): 4 packets read (1843200 bytes); 4 frames decoded;
Total: 4 packets (1843200 bytes) demuxed
Output file #0 (nul):
Output stream #0:0 (video): 3 frames encoded; 3 packets muxed (171 bytes);
Total: 3 packets (171 bytes) muxed
[h264_nvenc @ 0000000000628220] Nvenc unloaded

#10

:point_up_2: This seems to be the problem.

Can you run this command and see how long it takes to complete:

C:\ProgramData\ChannelsDVR\latest\ffmpeg.exe -hide_banner -nostats -loglevel warning -loglevel verbose -f lavfi -t 0.1 -i color=black:640x480 -c:v h264_nvenc -profile:v high -level 42 -b:v 400k -maxrate:v 600k -f null -y nul

#11

Just ran the command. It was very quick to complete. Probably < 1 second.

#12

Hmmm. I guess it’s slower maybe when the system is otherwise busy.

I can try raising the timeout to 5s and make a new build for you to test.

#13

Run this command to upgrade:

iwr -usebasicparsing -method put http://127.0.0.1:8089/updater/check/2017.12.21.2042

#14

Upgraded to 2017.12.21.2042 and rebooted. Didn’t work. Only the SW transcoder shows as available. Once booted, I stopped and started the Channels DVR service via services.msc and the HW transcoder shows as available.

I agree that something during the boot sequence is probably bogging down the resources on my machine causing the HWE check to timeout during initial boot.

#15

Okay I can probably disable the timeout for the NVIDIA encoder.

#16

OK - FWIW, I also tried another test with this build where I set the Channels DVR service to have the Startup Type “Automatic (Delayed Start).” This was successful and I was able to get the HWE option to show up after a fresh boot.

1 Like
#17

Try 2017.12.21.2221

#18

Success with 2017.12.21.2221 - HWE displayed after fresh boot (I also reverted the Delayed Start back to normal).

1 Like
#19

Great! Thanks for reporting and helping to test.

1 Like
#20

My pleasure to help - keep up the great work and looking forward to what Channels has in store in the future!

1 Like